Delayed yeast addition

[David Surette]

I've gotten to a point where I am very happy with my Centenial recipe and so far I have made three batches and the last one was very good. One of my favorite IPAs is Founders Centenial and the shop where I buy my supplies gave me a recipe that seems to work well.
I do have a question about the brewing process. After the boiling is over and the wort is in the fermenter, how important is it to cool it down quickly before pitching the yeast? It's now 10 PM and the temperature is too high for adding the yeast. I plan on pitching it tomorrow morning. Is there a problem doing it this way?
I find the learning curve very steep but the learning is fun and drinking your mistakes isn't all that bad. And why is it called "pitching yeast" and why is it called "trub" instead of muck or some other common word?
One more thing. I use 5 gallons of bottled spring water for my brewing. I do the boil with three and add the final two after the boil to cool it down. Is there any reason why I shouldn't be doing it this way?
Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[IslandLizard]

I hear ya. I just finished a batch myself, also at around 10pm. I did oxygenate and pitch the yeast, then put it in the temp controlled fermentation fridge. I'll finish cleaning up tomorrow or brew another batch. I like doing them back to back, only one prep and one cleanup.

There's usually no problem pitching yeast later, but definitely do as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours of chilling. The sooner the better so other microorganisms don't get a head start. I often leave the wort in a covered bucket for a few hours or even overnight, then pour the crystal clear wort off the top into another bucket fermentor, leaving most trub behind in the first one. I also salvage wort from the trub under the motto: No wort left behind! Usually around 2-3 quarts per 5 gallon batch.

Pitching yeast is a brewer's term for adding yeast.
Trub is the German brewing term for sediment. It is pronounced 'trəb, sort of like "troob" with a short flat oo sound.

If your kettle is large enough and your heat source strong enough you could do "full boils," meaning boiling all the wort that becomes beer.
However, for extract brewing there is little need to do that. The extract itself really doesn't need to be boiled at all, it can be heated to 160-165F to pasteurize it. For example, hopped malt extracts are never boiled, the malt, hops and bitterness are all in the can.

Now to create bitterness (from the hops) you do need to boil the wort (that's the most efficient way) or heat to at least 160-170F, which is much, much less efficient in bittering; IOW, it does not add nearly as much bitterness as boiling does, but retains more flavor and aroma from the hops. By boiling the hops her "Alpha Acids" are being isomerized (a molecular chance) which causes them to taste bitter. The higher temps, the more and faster the bittering, but it's still a relatively slow process. That's one of the reasons why we boil our bittering hops for 60'.

In extract brewing doing partial boils is customary. You'd boil only 2-3 gallons of water, dissolve half of your recipe's malt extract, boil the hops, then add the balance of the malt extract at the very end, right before or after flameout. Boiling only half the extract for an hour keeps it tasting a little fresher, yields better hop utilization (bitterness), and may make your wort a little better fermentable (resulting in a somewhat lower FG and a slightly higher alcohol %). After the boil, chill, pour into fermentor, and top up with cold water to your recipe's volume.

Enjoy your wonderful homebrewing journey! There's beer in the end!

PS: John Palmer's online version of How to Brew (1st edition) is good and suggested reading. The 4th edition of that book was published last year (2017). It has lots of updates and much more information on homebrewing and brewing processes than the online version. Reading HBT forums also gives you a lot of information on brewing, but it's not as concise as Palmer's book. If you're serious about brewing and the various processes involved, How to Brew is indispensable.

 

[Reavers2013]

It is better to pitch yeast later at the correct temperature. Within 24 hours it totally fine for pitching yeast (when you do lagers this may be a requirement depending on your cooking set up). Most off flavors are created during the growth phase which is the first 24 to 48 hours after pitching. If it is too hot you'll get lots of phenols, fusels, and other gross crap. Of course, all this is assuming your temp isn't too high to just kill the yeast on impact.

 

[David Surette]

Thanks to both of you for the information. It set my mind at ease. I pitched the yeast this morning and everything looks good.